


Uncle Time Is the Best Time

by mander3_swish



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Gen, Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:35:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28037028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mander3_swish/pseuds/mander3_swish
Summary: Snippets of time that Michael and Alex have spent with their nieces (who are fraternal twins). Written from the prompt - soft domestic malex and/or malex with a kid(s)
Relationships: Michael Guerin/Alex Manes
Comments: 16
Kudos: 45
Collections: 12 Days Of Malex 2020





	Uncle Time Is the Best Time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [aquestlikethat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aquestlikethat/gifts).



> Written for Faith (@manesframe on tumblr) for the Malex Secret Santa Exchange hosted by @malexsanta
> 
> Happy Holidays @manesframe! I hope this brings a bit of fluff and cuteness and enough softness your way. Hugs.

Alex and Michael loved nearly every second of their time spent with their nieces Stella and Beth. Max and Liz's twin girls were five and just the perfect age for so many fun things. Alex had been a little worried at first when they started having visits without their parents or Auntie Isobel, but Michael had a bit of experience with little kids in a few foster homes, so he at least remembered the basics. Plus, Liz had an EXTENSIVE list of reminders and timelines including that bedtime was at 7:30 (which never happened), explicit instructions for Beth's asthma inhaler (followed to a T). The twins also made sure to pipe in with other rules that always started with "Well Mommy says we have to…" or "Daddy said only if…" It was cute enough, but Uncle Mikey and Uncle Lex didn't hesitate to break some of the rules or try to instill habits in the girls that would annoy their parents. The phrases "Duh" and "jk" were settling in nicely!

***

Even though Alex hadn't been a pilot in the Air Force, he still had a general awe about planes. He noticed the girls did too whenever they were playing outside in the yard. This gave him the idea to show them how to fold paper airplanes once they went back inside for a snack. 

They needed a lot of hands on help, so he started the folds and then had them press them down to make a crisp edge. Once the planes were done, one out of pink paper, the other out of blue, they tested the limits of the planes. There were lots of nose dives, but eventually they got the hang of it when some actually glided through the air.

And then all of a sudden, there was a barrage of paper airplanes of all sorts of designs zooming through the living room. 

"Uncle Mikey!" Stella shouted. Then just as suddenly, the dozen or so paper airplanes stopped and dropped to the ground.

"You caught me," Michael said, coming around the corner, with his hands raised in guilt.

"It looked like Hogwarts in here for a minute," Alex commented. "Neat trick."

"You love all my tricks," Michael said with a wink.

"That I do."

***

The twins were obsessed with Uncle Mikey's hair. He didn't care if they played with it and it ended up frizzy or knotted, just as long as everyone was having fun and they were happy.

They took turns brushing it, or rather fought over it until they had to implement a timer. Michael loved the scritch of the brush across his scalp, it might have even been relaxing had the brush not gotten caught in a tangle sooner rather than later.

It was usually Stella that was kept entertained and focused on his hair the longest. She even gave options for the final look. "Do you want an up-pony, a side-pony, or a regular-pony?"

"Hmmmm," Michael pondered, already used to this line of questioning. "How about a side-pony today?" 

"Good choice," Stella replied, really into the role of playing hairdresser. However, she was only 5 and still terrible at ponytails and braids. Really the best they did was clipping in barrettes.

"Beth, grab me a hand mirror," Stella bellowed when she was done with her masterpiece on Michael's head.

"It's lovely, quite stunning, if I must say," Alex said, snickering as he took a quick picture, surely sending if off to Isobel for a laugh.

Beth passed Stella the mirror, which was then shoved into Michael's face. "Do you just love it, Uncle Mikey?"

"Best side-pony I've ever had." It was, after all, mostly the truth. 

***

As the twins often did, they loved looking to see what was in drawers, standing on tip-toes to see what was on higher shelves they couldn't reach, and opening all the doors to see what was behind them.

On one visit in the summer, they stumbled across a little bag in a drawer that had a bunch of little glass bottles. Most of the contents on the bottles were shades of black, but there were some dark blues and greens, and even a couple that had some shimmer to them. They figured it must be Uncle Lex's stash of nail polish since Stella remembered seeing his nails painted in those pictures of when he was younger.

So they tore into the living room to beg him to paint their nails.

"That tickles!" Beth exclaimed, as Alex brushed a few stripes of polish across her nail.

"That was always my favorite part of painting my nails," Alex replied.

"Can I paint yours, Uncle Lex, pretty please," she begged, giving her best and cutest face to convince him.

"Uh, sure, why not," he agreed. "But, we have to wait until yours are super dry so they don't get smudge, okay?"

"Promise!" 

Beth had a pretty steady hand and didn't do too terribly for a five year old. Alex was rather impressed. 

"You're doing great Beth," Alex said, encouraging her. "Maybe add a little bit more there," he directed, pointing at a nail that needed more coverage.

She got a little over excited and her hand slipped and half of the top of his finger was also covered in black. "Sorry, sorry, sorry…" Beth apologized.

"That's okay sweetie." Alex was already wiping up the excess with a cotton ball doused in nail polish remover. "This is why we always have some of this on hand, and why we go slow." He dabbed at one last spot, "There all fixed up."

"La! Come look!" Beth shouted at her sister. "Look at how pretty I made Lex's fingers!" She was very proud of her work, and Alex was certainly thrilled to have such a nice little bonding moment with her.

***

The girls being TERRIBLE at hide and go seek was an understatement. Both inside the house and when they were out for a nature walk along some trails. However, Stella was definitely improving in some of her hiding spot choices and staying quiet, which was also worrisome if at some point they wouldn't be able to find her.

One time, Alex hid on the bed in the spare room the girls used to take naps on when they were littler (oh how he misses naps). All he did was cover himself up with the throw blanket that was on it, with the door left open. They were up and down the hallway, searching high and low for him. He had to make a little 'you-who' call to get them to follow the sound to his 'stealthy' hiding spot, as if the big lump on the bed was a dead giveaway.

Michael and Alex would also take them on short nature hikes in the desert, nothing too strenuous or long since they didn't want to end up having to give them piggyback rides for too long. 

Alex's comfort level with his newest prosthetic was better than ever, so he and Beth, who always had to be at the front leading the way, ran up ahead and crouched behind some bushes for a little game of hide and seek on the trail.

Twin shouts of "surprise!" and "found you!" came from Beth and Stella once Michael and Stella had caught up to them. 

"Okay, now you count, and we'll hide," Stella directed, and grabbed Uncle Mikey's hand as they tore up the trail to the net hiding spot.

So Beth counted to 20, with Alex helping her a bit from 12 to 16 as she tended to skip a number here and there.

"Ready or not, here we come!" Beth shouted, and then was off like a shot. 

"Beth! Wait for me!" Alex tried to get her to slow down, but it was no use at this point. And she ended up running right past where Michael and Stella were hiding.

"Beth, you're getting colder," Alex advised, a little way of helping her problem solve where to look. "Colder, colder. Okay warmer, warmer," he said as she switched direction.

Once she had spotted her prey, she yelled, "Found you!" This led to groans from the bushes where they had been hiding.

***

Some of their best times together were trying out all of Uncle Alex's instruments! Stella was actually able to memorize Twinkle Twinkle and Happy Birthday on the keyboard after only a couple of quick lessons. It was pretty amazing how little kids could pick stuff up so easily. 

Stella also loved to set up her own drum kit using overturned buckets and pots out of Uncle Mikey's garden shed. Sometimes she'd just be wailing on them for a good half an hour before deciding to go play something else. 

Beth loved playing the harmonica best as it made the loudest noices with the least amount of effort. But she also definitely loved sitting with Alex or Michael, strumming away at the strings on the guitar while whoever she was sitting with placed his fingers for the different chords.

Usually their music sessions devolved in living room dance parties, jamming out to whatever auto beats the girls had found in the keyboard. Sometimes they would even let Alex put on a record to wiggle around to. It was so much fun, and everyone was always exhausted by the end, breathless with smiles and pink cheeks.

***

No one was really sure who was more excited that Stella and Beth would be going for a weekend away with Michael and Alex - the girls, their over-tired parents, or the Uncles themselves.

They don't even remember how it became a thing, but as they drove along the highway, the girls started chanting "Where are we going?" with the reply being "To the cabin!" This repeated a few times and the carful was psyched to be getting a whole weekend away together. 

The cabin didn't have very much room, and Alex and Michael had talked about putting on an addition or building a separate bunk house for the twins or other company. However, that day had not yet arrived, nor were they comfortable leaving them in a separate building since Beth sometimes had some sleeping issues. So they had built them a set of bunk beds in one corner of the master bedroom - re: the only bedroom - that could be moved out once their expansion plans were done. 

Their room was now like a regular old dorm at a hostel, but worse. It was amazing how the girls had been in the cabin for all of ten minutes before their backpacks were opened to rescue their stuffies from, their fuzzy llama slippers were pulled out of their Elsa and Anna luggage, with half the contents of the baggage strewn across the floor.

Stella easily scrambled up to the top bunk, claiming it as her own. Beth was content with the bottom bunk as she was a little bit afraid of heights, but getting better about it the less she thought about it when doing something. The more the both played on the bunk beds, practicing getting up and down different ways, the more everyone was less worried about anyone falling off, especially in the middle of the night.

Everything was a little wild and crazy inside, so Alex clapped his hands before letting everyone know it was time to get dressed to go out and play in the snow! He was hoping the fresh air would tire the girls out and have them be a little less hyper for supper time.

Once they had tracked down Beth's missing mitten - hiding under Michael's coat - they were all ready for the snow. 

There was only a bit of snow, but it was the perfect amount to roll out some snow people. Michael and Alex both started rolling ones for the each of the girls to continue to roll and add snow to. They got them so big that Uncle Mickey was summoned to stack the middle ball on the base. While Beth was rolling the head, Stella and Alex went to collect some rocks and sticks to for the arms and face. They found some perfect branches that looked like they had hands "just like Olaf" on the ends.

Michael pulled off his beanie and placed it on top of the snowman since he didn't really need it anyway. The girls loved it and both wanted to pose for pictures with the finished sculpture to send to their mom and dad. 

Dinnertime was a simple affair. Beth's favorite food was anything with cheese, while Stella was a little bit more open and adventurous in the foods she'd try and eat on the regular. And they both loved helping out in the kitchen, measuring ingredients, stirring and mixing, licking spoons, eating shredded cheese that was ready to go on the homemade pizza or tacos, and they even liked fighting over washing dishes. The washing was minimal at best, it was really playing in the water with bubbles being the motivating factor in helping with that task.

But tonight was mac and cheese. Michael swore that Beth ate more of it than he did. Stella wasn't that far behind.

And even though they had filled up on supper, they both demanded popcorn while they watched an episode of PJ Masks downloaded to their iPad they couldn't leave home without. How could Alex not indulge their cute little faces as they were cuddled up under blankets in their fuzzy pjs. 

***

Michael and Alex felt like teenagers again, sneaking away outside when they knew for sure the girls were asleep and within the window of there being zero chance of anyone waking up. 

They crept back into the main building, and cuddled up themselves in front of the fire that was little more than glowing embers. It was perfect, just feeding off of one another's heat, not needing to do anything or be anywhere.

Soon enough, Michael's head drooped, and he was softly snoring on Alex's shoulder. Alex let him nap for bit before gently kissing him awake and leading him to bed.


End file.
